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Lemon Bay Tours: Discoveries on the waterBY DEBBIE FLESSNER, SUN CORRESPONDENTOn the beautiful waters of Lemon Bay, an education is taking place. Bruce LaMotte and his company Lemon Bay Tours are kicking the typical boat tour up a notch by mixing in a little information. Whether it’s discovering more about the wildlife you are seeing or learning about the history of the area you are in, it’s all covered on the tour. “Our tours are a combination of things,” said LaMotte. “We have different people every day. Whatever their interests are, we try to shape the tours for that.” The opportunities to view nature in this area are abundant, and there is no better example of that than on Lemon Bay. Dolphins, bald eagles, hawks, egrets, pelicans, osprey, manatees and other marine life and birds are regularly sighted on LaMotte’s tours.

Years ago, LaMotte used to spot sea life of a different type. “I’ve been a licensed captain for over 25 years,” he said. “I did similar whale watching tours back in Bar Harbor, Maine.” In the ’70s, LaMotte was working on Florida’s east coast when he visited what would one day become his home. “I first saw Englewood in 1973,” he said. “I came over here on a day off and fell in love with this area. We bought our first home here in the ’80s.”

Since his move to southwest Florida, he has discovered that there is quite a bit of history here. “I’ve done a lot of research on the history of Englewood,” he said, “about the settlers and why they settled here and did what they did.” When you take a tour with LaMotte, if you ask, you will be beneficiary of his years of investigation and exploration of the area. He is a wealth of information and anecdotes, such as the one he tells about an early settler who bought one of the barrier islands. The settler found that he loved the island life, but that one thing was missing—meat. So he rounded up 400 razorback hogs and brought them to the island for his family. “We touch on history if people are into it,” said LaMotte. “I like to interject some things in there.”

All boat tours are conducted on The Bay Watch, a Coast Guard-certified, 49 passenger catamaran, and there are several options from which to choose: Lunch, Sunset, Party, Nature or Custom cruises. LaMotte stresses that the tours are different every time he goes out. “Right now the eagles are nesting, and we’ll see a lot of them,” he said. “It takes about 16 weeks for the babies to get out of the nest, and then we’ll see them on the tour.”

For more information or to book a tour, contact Lemon Bay Tours at 941-475-3168 or online at www.lemonbaydolphintours.com . Lemon Bay Tours is located at 1450 Beach Road, Englewood.